The subject matter disclosed herein relates generally to X-ray imaging systems, and more particularly to an X-ray detector for such systems.
The use of digital radiological imaging continues to become increasingly invaluable with respect to a variety of technical applications. Digital radiological imaging is a mainstay in the medical field allowing health care professionals to quickly discern and diagnose internal abnormalities of their patients. Additionally, its use has become increasingly important in industrial fields for visualizing internal contents of parts, baggage, parcels, and other objects, and for visualizing the structural integrity of objects and other purposes. Indeed, the evolution of digital X-ray detectors has enhanced both workflow and image quality in the field of radiological imaging.
Generally, radiological imaging involves the generation of X-rays that are directed toward an object of interest. The X-rays pass through and around the object and then impact an X-ray film, X-ray cassette, or digital X-ray detector. In the context of the digital X-ray detector, these X-ray photons traverse a scintillator that converts the X-ray photons to visible light, or optical photons. The optical photons then collide with the photodetectors of a digital X-ray receptor and are converted to electrical signals which are then processed as digital images that can be readily viewed, stored, and/or transmitted electronically. As digital X-ray detectors continue to replace conventional X-ray film and X-ray cassettes, the need for improving efficiency and quality of digital radiological imaging remains at the forefront.
One of the problems associated with digital imagery is due to a suboptimal assembly of the detectors themselves. For example, certain digital detectors such as complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) based detectors use detachable scintillator plates that need to be coated with a protective material. However, these protective materials exhibit both poor light transparency properties as well as poor light reflective properties. These properties may interfere with the function of the scintillator plate causing loss of useful light photons. In order to utilize digital X-ray imagery to its full potential, there is a need to improve the design of the digital X-ray detectors in order to increase X-ray detector efficiency.